Borussia Dortmund coach Favre satisfied with Revierderby draw

Lucien Favre has acknowledged Borussia Dortmund should be satisfied they held onto a point in the goalless Revierderby against Schalke on Saturday.

Dortmund were under the cosh for much of their first encounter of the season with their fierce rivals, who hit the woodwork twice and squandered a glut of gilt-edged opportunities.

Schalke also saw what seemed to be a valid penalty appeal declined – a corner appearing to have strike Dortmund’s Thorgan Hazard on the arm.

The draw lifted Dortmund into third, two points behind leaders Bayern Munich, while Schalke are one behind their local rivals in what is already a congested pack at the top of the Bundesliga.

And Favre conceded his side must accept they were fortunate not to go behind.

“It was a very difficult game for us, especially in the first half, where Schalke played very well and played very aggressively,” Favre told a news conference. 

“They are the league’s best tackling team, they did a good job. With 0-0 after the first half we could be satisfied. They had two big chances to score. We lost a lot of balls under pressure.

“The second half was much better. After 55 or 60 minutes we finally played football. Schalke could not keep up with this pace, but were still dangerous with their runs. At the end we can accept the draw.”

Reus postgame presser:

“We didn’t push forward well enough. We did better in the last 15 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to win the game. We have to do better as a team. We have to stand together and keep working hard.” pic.twitter.com/pHwTeICb2A

— Borussia Dortmund (@BlackYellow) October 26, 2019

Favre’s counterpart David Wagner was frustrated by Schalke’s failure to convert their chances.

“We would have been happy with one point before the game, but we’re disappointed now,” he told a news conference.

“You need a lot of courage to press that high up the pitch against Dortmund. We didn’t manage to score today, but that was partly due to bad luck.”